Do apagamento sócio-histórico à ocupação de espaços políticos e eleitorais: reflexos da LGBTfobia na movimentação de corpos e identidades LGBTQIA+ em legislativos do Rio Grande do Sul nos anos de 2016, 2020 e 2024

Abstract

This study analyzes the movements and tensions caused by self-declared LGBTQIA+ bodies and identities in political-party and electoral scenarios in municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It also seeks to understand how LGBTQIA+phobia acts as a barrier preventing these individuals from participating in elective processes within their localities. The research aims to examine the socio-historical and legal trajectory of LGBTQIA+phobia and the occupation of representative political-party and electoral spaces by self-declared LGBTQIA+ individuals in municipal councils in Rio Grande do Sul, focusing on those who were elected or secured the first alternate position in the years 2016, 2020, and 2024. This socio-historical period is marked by conjunctural and structural factors, including the rise of conservative and moral agendas, the criminalization of LGBTQIA+phobia, and the inclusion of self-affirmation options for sexual orientation and gender identity in candidacy records by the Superior Electoral Court. The research is centered on a problem that examines how the coloniality of power and gender produces asymmetrical and hierarchical social relations, re-identifying dissident sex/gender bodies and identities through the allegorical categories of Modernity/Coloniality. From this perspective, it is grounded in the Epistemologies of the South as its theoretical framework, while also employing intersectionality as an interpretative and analytical tool. Situated within an interdisciplinary program, the study navigates across various fields and areas of knowledge, offering reflections on the polysemic and complex nature of the investigated problem. Methodologically, the research is characterized as a qualitative investigation combining bibliographic research procedures with the production of empirical data. It employs direct observation methods with ethnographic elements and semi-structured interviews. The data collected in the field are interpreted through Thematic Analysis, complemented by an Idea Association Map. Divided into four chapters, the study addresses the colonization of Brazil, the imperatives of colonialism and coloniality, and the structuring of a modern/colonial world system. It discusses the conceptions of sex, gender, body, and sexuality, forming a conceptual basis for interpreting the collected data. The research highlights how the dynamics of social power relations hinder or prevent LGBTQIA+ populations from accessing representative political and electoral spaces, affecting the construction of public policies and legislation that fulfill the provisions of Brazil's Federal Constitution and align with the human rights agreements and declarations to which the country is a signatory.